Reborn in 97, I solved a cold case at the Municipal Bureau

Chapter 516 There's Something Below (Seeking Monthly Tickets for a Chance to Win Big Prizes)

Miao Tiejun is different from Miao Zhuang. Miao Zhuang is at most a tool in Miao Dongfang's hands.

However, Miao Tiejun was most likely an accomplice in the murder of Ma Weichang.

Even if Miao Tiejun was stupid and trusted Miao Dongfang too much, he wouldn't kill someone without asking why.

That's why Zhou Yi said he needed to summon and detain Miao Dongfang immediately, because if Miao Tiejun were detained, it might trigger Miao Dongfang's sensitive nerves.

Although everyone in Xipinggou saw why Miao Tiejun was arrested.

However, from Miao Dongfang's perspective, he might suspect that Miao Tiejun had been exposed and that the police had staged a whole charade.

After all, most murderers are easily frightened.

Zhou Yi originally released Miao Zhuang to provoke Miao Dongfang into taking action.

I never expected Miao Zhuang to be so unreliable. His own sister was arrested, and he forgot about it as soon as he turned his back.

So often, plans really can't keep up with changes.

Yang Chuan drove with Zhou Yi straight to Xipinggou.

He instructed Da Yong and the others to take Miao Tiejun and the others back, and then went to find the bureau chief to arrange for someone to come and meet them immediately.

It would be better if Miao Dongfang didn't run; if he did, things would get complicated.

Because even if they travel as fast as they can, it would still take them half an hour to get from the county town to Xipinggou.

But the blond-haired guy had already made the call.

If Miao Dongfang had been alert enough and packed his things to run away immediately, they would probably have come up empty-handed.

The reason Li Linglong was asked to arrange for people to block the various intersections was to do so.

Even if he ran away, no matter how fast he went, he couldn't possibly escape Yuanbei County.

At most, it's just a waste of time and effort to wrap people up like dumplings and dig them out.

However, Zhou Yi was not familiar with the local geography, so he could not judge the difficulty of the search.

As soon as Yang Chuan stepped on the gas, Zhou Yi instinctively took out his phone to call the Shacao Town Police Station, since they were nearby and might still make it in time.

But when I took it out, I realized that my phone had run out of battery last night.

I had no choice but to put it back.

"Damn it, this skinny little blondie is so cunning," Yang Chuan cursed. "Luckily you were alert enough to notice something was wrong."

"It's because this kid's appearance is too conspicuous that I noticed him. If it were someone else, it would be a real problem," Zhou Yi said, still feeling a bit scared.

If someone else had made that call, Zhou Yi wouldn't have noticed. By the time he got back and went through the proper procedures, got Li Linglong's signature, and then summoned Miao Dongfang, Miao would probably have already fled the county, making the search and arrest much more difficult.

Fortunately, there were few cars on the road, and Yang Chuan drove very fast, arriving at Xipinggou in no time.

After the body was discovered yesterday, Yang Chuan led a group to the village to find the village chief to identify the body, so he clearly remembered the location of Miao Dongfang's house.

However, there was a narrow alley ahead, and the car couldn't go in, so the two of them had to get out of the car.

“There!” Yang Chuan pointed to a bungalow on a high point in front of him.

Zhou Yi looked in the direction and saw two single-story houses, but they were not the adobe houses that were common in this area. Instead, they were red brick houses. Although they were also single-story houses, they looked much more valuable than the houses around them.

However, the gate to Miao Dongfang's house was tightly closed.

Yang Chuan rushed over and pounded on the door, shouting, "Miao Dongfang, open the door! Open the door now!"

But there was no sound from inside the house.

Zhou Yi first checked the windows of the inner room, but the windows were covered with newspapers, so he couldn't see what was going on inside.

Then they immediately went around to the back of the house, where there was a back door, but it was closed as well.

"Brother Chuan, I'll stay here and keep watch. Go check the village committee office," Zhou Yi said, because Yang Chuan was more familiar with the terrain and he had a gun.

"Okay!" Without saying another word, Yang Chuan took off running south.

Less than two minutes after Yang Chuan left, the back door of the house in front of Miao Dongfang's house opened, and a woman in her thirties stood at the door, looked at Zhou Yi, and asked a question in dialect.

Zhou Yi understood that they were asking what the other party did.

Zhou Yi quickly asked, "Ma'am, we're from the county public security bureau. Excuse me, do you know where your village chief, Miao Dongfang, has gone?"

The woman said, "Oh, you're looking for Uncle Dong? I just saw him leave on his motorcycle. I wonder what he went to do."

"Damn it!" Zhou Yi stomped his foot and chased after Yang Chuan in the direction he had just run. That old man was too vigilant!

After running a couple of steps, he immediately turned back.

"One more question, you said you saw it just now, approximately how long ago was that?"

The woman thought for a moment and said, "It should be... about fifteen minutes, but I didn't check the exact time."

"Thank you." Zhou Yi turned and left again.

Fifteen minutes should be enough to get out of Shacao Town if you're driving a motorcycle.

After running to a fork in the road, Zhou Yi stopped because he was unsure which way to go.

I wanted to ask someone, but I couldn't find anyone for a while.

"Zhou Yi!" Yang Chuan's voice suddenly rang out from the other side.

Zhou Yi turned around and saw Yang Chuan running over, saying, "The village committee said that Miao Dongfang left after receiving the phone call, saying he had something to do. I don't know if the old guy ran away or went somewhere else in the village."

Before Yang Chuan even reached the intersection, Zhou Yi rushed over and said, "I found out that Miao Dongfang rode off on a motorcycle about fifteen minutes ago."

"Damn it, that old fox."

"Go call the village committee right away."

"it is good."

Zhou Yi followed Yang Chuan to the village committee office.

There was only one staff member inside. Seeing the policeman who had just left return, he asked, "Officer, is there anything else you need?"

Yang Chuan went straight to the phone on the table and immediately called back to Li Linglong's office at the county bureau.

A few seconds later, the call connected.

"Hello, Director Li, this is Yang Chuan. Zhou Yi and I are in Xipinggou right now."

"Oh, Yang Chuan, I've already sent someone to meet you. I've also signed the summons. Da Yong and the others should arrive in about ten minutes."

"It's too late, Director Li. That bastard Miao Dongfang has already escaped. Tell Dayong and the others not to come to Xipinggou. They should quickly guard the intersection to prevent the suspect from escaping."

Upon hearing this, Li Linglong on the other side immediately stood up and said, "Okay, I'll notify everyone right away to block off the main roads and launch a full-scale search!"

Yang Chuan hung up the phone. The village committee staff who had heard his conversation turned pale with fright, not knowing what had happened, and dared not say a word.

"Brother Chuan, call Director Chen in Shacao Town again. They're nearby. Let them go first," Zhou Yi said.

"Yes, yes, you're right," Yang Chuan said, picking up the phone again after he had just put it down.

After leaving the village committee office, the two returned to Miao Dongfang's house, because now that it was a done deal, Miao Dongfang's escape would be an admission of guilt.

Zhou Yi's original intention was to first blockade Miao Dongfang's house.

Because Miao Dongfang left in a very hurry, he will most likely only be able to pay in cash.

Therefore, there may be other incriminating evidence left in the house, which would require a search.

Since a search warrant hasn't been applied for yet, someone needs to keep an eye on things to prevent anyone else from doing anything.

After all, Zhou Yi had already witnessed the unity of Xipinggou at the arcade.

Unexpectedly, Yang Chuan was reckless and kicked directly at the gate of Miao Dongfang's house.

The door was kicked open with a bang.

Yang Chuan turned around and found Zhou Yi looking at him in surprise. He scratched his head and said, "In an emergency, Director Li won't say anything."

Since the door had already been kicked open, what could Zhou Yi say? Naturally, he followed Yang Chuan into the house.

The house looked like an ordinary family home, with nothing special on the surface. The floor was made of thick, rammed earth, which was the norm in most rural areas these days; very few homes had cement floors.

The outer room contained a stove, cupboards, tables, chairs, benches, and some farm tools, with several bags of grain piled up in the corner.

There were two bowls of leftover food on the table, covered with vegetable covers.

In the past, most households did not have refrigerators, so in the summer, vegetables would be placed directly on the table and covered with vegetable covers to prevent flies and mosquitoes.

This shows that Miao Dongfang never intended to run away in the first place.

Just as Zhou Yi had guessed, it was because the police had arrested Miao Tiejun by mistake that he had touched his most sensitive nerve.

He made the decision to run away at the last minute.

On one side of the wall, there are two picture frames.

A large photo frame contained many moldy photos, clearly quite old, featuring both old and young people. However, Zhou Yi had never met Miao Dongfang and didn't know what he looked like.

Not far away, there was a small photo frame hanging.

However, strangely enough, a black cloth was covering the small picture frame.

Yang Chuan, skilled and daring, directly removed the black cloth with his bare hands.

"What the heck? How can you cover a photo with a cloth?"

As he lifted the black cloth, he was immediately startled: "Oh my god!"

Because under the black cloth was actually a black and white portrait of a woman who had died.

The woman in the portrait was in her early thirties, with a thin face and empty eyes.

The fact that it was covered with a black cloth in front of it created a particularly eerie feeling.

"This must be Miao Dongfang's wife, Jin Cuiping, right?" Zhou Yi said.

"Yes, I guess so." Yang Chuan said, bowing slightly towards the portrait and saying, "Excuse me."

Then he covered it with a black cloth again. "Is this old man crazy? He covered his own wife's portrait with a black cloth. He must have done a lot of bad things," Yang Chuan muttered.

Zhou Yi agreed with his opinion; the fact that his deceased wife's portrait could be covered up only showed that Miao Dongfang was guilty and afraid.

Otherwise, it would be very common for normal people, especially the older generation, to hang portraits of the deceased at home.

Like Zhou Yi's grandmother's portrait, which had been hanging in his grandfather's room for many years.

It was later moved to the living room.

"Let's go check the inner room," Yang Chuan said, pushing open the door to the inner room.

Zhou Yi could tell from his posture that he was ready to kick down the door.

Fortunately, the door to the inner room wasn't locked, and it opened easily with a push.

The inner room was dark. As soon as Zhou Yi entered, he smelled a strange odor, but he couldn't describe what it was. The smell wasn't strong, but it had a slightly fishy smell that he couldn't quite put his finger on.

Yang Chuan found the light switch cord, turned on the light with a snap, and the old bulb above his head lit up.

The two looked around the room in the dim light. It wasn't big; there was just a bed against the corner, a cabinet, and a table.

The furniture was clearly old. Judging from the environment and furnishings of the house, it seemed that Miao Dongfang lived a rather poor life and did not have any luxurious enjoyment. After all, there was not even a television in the house.

Zhou Yi originally thought that the old man was so cunning that he must be a pleasure-seeking person. Otherwise, what would be the purpose of setting up a murder plot?

The two searched the room and found obvious signs that the cabinets had been ransacked, probably because they had hurriedly packed their things and fled.

No abnormalities were found elsewhere.

Zhou Yi looked at the wall opposite the window, where the peeling plaster revealed the red bricks underneath.

Two rusty iron nails were driven into the gaps between the red bricks, about twenty centimeters apart.

Zhou Yi reached out and touched the two nails with his finger. Just as he was about to speak, he heard Yang Chuan say, "Why are there so many boxes of painkillers?"

Zhou Yi turned his head and saw Yang Chuan pull out several medicine boxes from the gap between the bedding and the wall on the bed, and was examining them by the window.

Zhou Yi leaned closer to take a look and saw that the box was labeled "Acaffeine Powder." Zhou Yi remembered that this stuff was commonly known as headache powder, which, as the name suggests, was specifically for relieving pain.

It was very common in the 1980s and 90s, but it was discontinued later because it had many side effects, such as causing damage to the gastric mucosa and leading to acute upper gastrointestinal injury, and it can also cause caffeine addiction.

“Brother Chuan, come and take a look here,” Zhou Yi said, pointing to the nails on the wall.

Yang Chuan put down the medicine box in his hand, leaned over to take a look, and said, "What was originally hanging here?"

Zhou Yi nodded: "Yes, it's probably been hanging there for a long time, because when I touched it, the sides and bottom of the nails were noticeably more rusty than the top."

Upon hearing this, Yang Chuan reached out and touched it. It was true; the top of the nail wasn't completely rusted and was noticeably smoother.

"Wow, you have a really good eye for observation."

"I estimate that when Miao Dongfang ran away, in addition to taking the money, he also took the things that were originally hanging here."

Yang Chuan was staring at the empty wall, pondering what it might be.

Then I heard a commotion outside.

The two immediately went outside and found that the house was surrounded by villagers, young and old, making it impossible to pass through.

Fortunately, no one was carrying weapons or anything like that, which relieved the two of them.

Police officers are naturally not afraid of criminals, but they need to be more cautious when dealing with a group of uninformed people.

Yang Chuan immediately took out his ID, held it above his head, and shouted a few times in the local dialect.

The gist of it is: We are police officers, handling a case according to the law. We are currently looking for Miao Dongfang and hope everyone can cooperate. If anyone knows his whereabouts, please let us know.

Zhou Yi looked at the villagers who were gathered in layers, most of whom had little reaction on their faces, and there was an indescribable dullness about them.

He found it strange, as this was the first time he had truly and formally come into contact with so many villagers from Xipinggou.

It is said that the land shapes its people. Even though we live in the same town and on the same barren land, we still struggle to survive on this land.

The day the roof was being renovated, the men, women, and children of Yangjiatun were all so harmonious and friendly. The men helped with the work, the women chatted, and the children played happily.

However, Xipinggou, in theory, also has a quarry, so the young and middle-aged people in the village have a more stable source of income than those in Yangjiatun.

But the faces of these villagers were all dull and lifeless, as if devoid of any vitality.

Why are there such huge differences between the two villages?
Yang Chuan called out a few more times, but the surrounding villagers remained the same; no one stepped forward or left, they just watched them.

Zhou Yi had a strange feeling that these people seemed to lack a backbone.

Yang Chuan also sensed the predicament. These villagers were not the same group of young people as before. Those people were armed and had the potential to commit violent crimes. In the heat of the moment, he fired a warning shot, which was fine. At most, he would be scolded by Zhou Xiangdong later.

But these people were unarmed, and there was nothing he could do.

He could only ask the people standing in the front row one by one, "Do you know where Miao Dongfang went?"

But when asked, everyone shook their heads, and it was unclear whether they genuinely didn't know or simply didn't want to answer.

"Forget it, Zhou Yi, let's keep searching and ignore them."

Just as Yang Chuan finished speaking, a police siren suddenly came from afar.

Everyone's attention was drawn to the sound of sirens, and they all turned around to look.

Soon, a police car with flashing lights stopped not far away. Da Yong and two other policemen got out of the car and pushed through the crowd.

"Brother Chuan."

"What are you doing here? Weren't you going to block the intersection?"

Da Yong said, "The other brothers have already gone. Director Li was worried that you two would be alone and in danger here, so he sent us to meet you."

“Great, you’ve come at just the right time.”

With his men arriving, Yang Chuan felt more confident and immediately shouted, "Police are handling a case. Bystanders, please do not gather around. If you have nothing to provide, go home. Don't stay here and watch the show."

Da Yong and the other two immediately dispersed the villagers: "Everyone, disperse!"

After being driven away, some villagers on the outskirts began to leave, and then others followed suit.

That's how the general public is; they easily follow the crowd.

"Brother Chuan, is this Miao Dongfang's house?" Dayong asked, pointing to the house.

Yang Chuan nodded: "Did you put up a seal? Seal this place up first, so no one can get in."

One of the police officers nodded and ran back to the police car to get the seal.

Zhou Yi asked Dayong if he had a flashlight, and Dayong said yes, then took out a small flashlight from his pocket and handed it to him.

"Brother Chuan, let me take another look." With that, Zhou Yi walked into the house and turned on his flashlight.

Just as Yang Chuan was about to go inside to take another look, an elderly woman wearing a headscarf called out to him in dialect. Yang Chuan immediately stopped and asked the woman what was wrong.

Zhou Yi, holding a flashlight, continued to observe areas in the room that were previously difficult to see due to insufficient light.

In the corner of the outer room were some farm tools: hoes, rakes, shovels, and some other things that Zhou Yi didn't quite recognize.

Zhou Yi looked at it and saw that some of the farm tools still had soil on them, which meant that Miao Dongfang often did farm work.

After looking around the outer room, I didn't find anything.

So he went into the inner room.

As soon as I went inside, I smelled that strange, indescribable odor again.

Because the air in the inner room is not circulating, the smell is particularly noticeable when you go back in now after just coming out.

Moreover, this time, Zhou Yi felt that the taste seemed somewhat familiar.

It wasn't the familiar smell I had in the inner room earlier.

I smelled it elsewhere.

Then Da Yong saw Zhou Yi standing at the door of the inner room, sometimes going in and sniffing hard, sometimes coming out and sniffing hard, not knowing what he was doing.

But there's always a feeling that he's competing with the police dogs for their jobs.

Suddenly, Zhou Yi seemed to remember where this familiar taste came from.

He immediately ran to the farm tools he had just seen, then squatted down and sniffed them intently.

That's right!

The strange smell in the inner room was an earthy smell!

The mud left on farm tools smells like this!
Zhou Yi muttered to himself, "Why is there such a strong earthy smell in the bedroom all of a sudden?"

Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind, because he remembered something Wu Yongcheng had said before!

He immediately rushed into the inner room and shone the light on the floor.

The land was compacted quite thickly, and there was no sign that it had been disturbed.

Then, he shone his flashlight on the bed in the corner.

The bed wasn't high, only about forty centimeters off the ground, and the sheet hung down from the edge of the bed, just enough to block the view.

Zhou Yi squatted down and lifted the bed sheet.

The flashlight beam was aimed under the bed.

Suddenly, some shadows appeared under the bed.

Fortunately, they were all just random odds and ends.

However, these miscellaneous items blocked the floor under the bed.

At this point, Zhou Yi noticed that the bed had been moved.

Because the positions where the bed legs press down on the ground have obvious deviations and overlaps.

At that moment, Yang Chuan rushed in and said urgently, "Zhou Yi, I know what's on the wall now."

Zhou Yi was squatting on the ground when he looked up and said, "Brother Chuan, there might be something under the bed."

(End of this chapter)